Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1887-09-21
dozen witnesses, Che Justice asked him If
he had ANYTHING else to dennSe


Nothing more" replied the officer.
"Isn't that enough? You can hear the
same story from the whole sixteen"
"No, SIR" said the magistrate-and
thought saw q twinkle in his eye as he
raised the important objection-'no, sir;
it is not enough. You have proved to me
that Dan Gllliver and the three other
prisoners were on board boat which you
believe to be, and which, in the absence
of evidence to the contrary, we may as
sumo to be, the Dancing Polly. You had
an undoubted right. as IN officer Of his
majesty's revenue, to board that vessel.
Where, in my opinion, you exceeded your
duty was in seizing the prisoners; for you
have not proved that there was anything
on board to justify that violent measure.
Prove smuggling, sir, or shall let the
prisoners 60 and dismiss the case"
There was sensation in the court. The
officer looked down abashed. He had
actually, in his zeal to seize well known
and notorious smuggler, omitted the most
necessary portion of his case-proof Of the
contraband carriage. He was actually so
eager to bring his prisoners to the Inagis-
trate that he forgot to carry with him his
pieces de conviction. s.z---.-,.,s;,,,.,.,., .,.,.:..
"Under the circumstances, therefore,"
said the justice, with a great sigh of re-
lief, II shall dismiss the prisoners, unless
you can Mt once produce evidence of snug
CLING"
Dan smiled. Will laughed aloud. Job
and Jephthah nudged each other with
their elbows, and became solemn beyond
what is natural in young men. Lieut..
Pollard looked, in fact-if one can say so
of o gallant officer who afterward fell
fighting the battles of his country
foolish.
II could send back to Rousdon bay"
he said, 'and cause to be brought kegs
from the cargo Of the Dancing Polly"
''Tush, man!' said the justice "Who
is to prove that those kegs were there
when you boarded the craft?'
The revenue men looked at each other
and laughed, glad to find that Dan Gulli
yer was going to escape. Only the captain
looked disconnected.
"And now" said Mr.. Mallock, rising
from his judicial throne, eve may dismiss
the case. hope, Pollard, that next time
you drag me out of bed in the middle of
the night, it will be with u better case
than this. Dan Gulliver, the next time
you 60 fishing in the Dancing Polly, you
had better ask Capt. Pollard to 60 with
you. And now think shall 60 up stairs
and have my sleep out"
We all thought the case was over and
the cailse won, when a young fellow, one
of the sixteen, Skirling by name-he was
a Weymouth man; no man nearer than
ho1 ry1xy
against Dan-stepped forward and spoke,
with many stammers and with much hes
itation.
"Beg your honor's pardon. broached
one of they kegs in the dark. filled this
here bottle'-he held out a fiat bottle,
two-thirds emptied-"with John Beer
there"-everybody looked reproachfully
at John Beer, the cousin Of our Lyme bar
ber-"and we drank it together"
"Swear this man," said the justice, sit
ting down again.
They gave him the oath, and he repeated
the evidence. The worthy magistrate
tried to cross examine him; but it was
useless. The presence of the brandy could
not otherwise be accounted for.
Then they called on John Beer, and
that young fellow, with bushes and much
unwillingness, was fain to confirm the
statement.
The justice of the peace made no fur
ther opposition.
"It must be-" he said, with choke in
his voice. 'It is in the hope, Dan Gulli-
yer, and you others-Job Gulliver, Jeph-
thah Gulliver and William Campion, all
described as common mariners-that you
will have speedy delverance and quickly
return to your-your farming and the
rest of it, that sign this document. The
law IS uncertain. Times are hard. Hon
est men cannot be spared. All, it is q
terrible misfortune! And Mt this juncture,
too, when good brandy is almost not to be
had and my own cellar, regret to say,
entirely empty" :,
So they were all committed to trial and
bail refused.
Early rs it was the whole population OF
Lyme was in tho streets to witness, IN
sympathy and sorrow, the departure OF
Dan Gulliver and his sons-caught at
last-for Dorchester jail. Loud were the
lamentations and deep were the curses
which were uttered Oh the unknown in
former who had wrought this evil. They
put us in wagon and we drove off-no
one refusing to let me 60 toto Bridport
and Dorchester, the dreariest journey
ever made in my life, except one even
more sorrowful, which was to come later.
There happened, after the reluctant
justice had granted his warrant, very
strange thing and one which caused the
sides of all Lyme Regis to shake with
laughing. We heard the news ourselves
two days afterward.
Capt. Pollard, ashamed of his own
haste which was almost the cause of q
miscarriage of justice, dispatched four OF
his men to seize the cargo and the boat
and to bring them round to the cove at
Lyme. Both boat and cargo were the
prize Of the captors, and C very tidy haul
the prize would prove.
The men, by their own account, lost no
time in marching back to Rousdon. 1t
was about o'clock when they got to the
farm. Here they found Isaac Agus ut
work in the yard and his wife in the
dairy and no one else about the place.
Unsuspiciously they descended the hill
and boarded their prize.
The Dancing Polly was empty
The whole of her cargo was gone. Not
ono keg left; not u single trace of any
brandy at all; the prize snatched from
under their very eyes.
The men looked at each other aghast.
1t had been grief to most of them to arrest
old Dan ut all; he had ever been good
friend to all who wanted q little cheap
spirit; but this laudable repugnance to
perform the more ungrateful portion OF
their duties was moderated by the pros
pect of prize. The Dancing Polly,
as she stood with all her gear, was worth
something, no doubt. And then there
was the brandy.
They looked at each other in dismay.
Where was it? Without word they
turned and climbed the hill to the farm.
Here Isaac Agus was placidly engaged
among the pigs.
He was hard of hearing and slow OF
speech, but ut length he was made to
comprehend that unknown persons had
been at work in the bay since daybreak,
and that he was wanted to say who they
were.
He knew nothing. At the usual hour
that is, before daybrcak-he had left his
bed, and since then had been busy in the
farm yard. The absence of Dan and the
boys gave him no concern, because it fire.
quently happened; and he was, in his
slow way, amazed to learn that they were
all then, with the stranger, OH their road
to Dorchester prison.
But he knew nothing. The simple look
of the old man, his deafness, his slowness
of comprehension, convinced the men that
bo lyno,u Nothing Then thav ret,,rpad to